hold on tight
by nicolesoul
Summary: Sam stops Rachel from attacking Karofsky. He doesn't know why  except for maybe he does /Oneshot, slight spoilers for 2.11
1. hold me tight

He isn't entirely sure what he's doing until he does it.

Shoots out of his chair, grabs her around the waist, and holds on like no tomorrow.

Rachel is furious. Screaming, wiggling, all she wants to do is give Karofsky a hint of the hurt he's caused her, Kurt, all of them.

Puck's fast. He lunges at Karofsky, guitar held high, but Beiste is quicker. She and Shue get between them so fast that they're just a blur. The other football guys back Karofsky, the glee kids stand dumbfounded, unsure what to do.

Rachel's still kicking, but something holds her back. No, someone is holding her back.

Sam can tell he's losing this fight quickly, so he drags Rachel towards the door. Beiste still has a hold on Puck, swinging his guitar widely. Karofsky looks pleased; he's caused as much trouble as possible as usual. Sam wants to hit him too; he never did get him back for the black eye. For a moment he pauses, considers dropping Rachel and going for it, but the girl in his arms is still fighting to get loose and Sam knows Rachel stands less of a chance against Karofsky than he does, so he continues to the door.

In the hallway, Rachel's spitting mad.

"Completely wrecked my performance, Neanderthal!"

Sam sets her down on the bench. For an instant, Rachel looks surprised, as though she didn't even realize Sam was holding her, much less carrying her into the hallway. But the surprise fades back into anger quickly.

"Those football players wreck everything!" she shrieks.

Sam agrees privately, but his goal is to calm Rachel down as quickly as possible, so he smiles and indicates towards his letterman jacket. "One of those football players just saved your life."

Rachel sighs and brushes some hair that's fallen into her face away before crossing her arms. "I could have taken him," she retorted.

Sam laughs and sits down next to her on the bench. "Karofsky would eat a tiny thing like you for lunch," he tells her.

She scoffs, but there's a hint of a smile. "I suppose you're right," she pauses, "thank you."

Sam smiles, "You're welcome." He glances towards the choir room. Through the small door window, he can just see Beiste shoving Puck into a seat and Shue herding the football players towards the door. He wonders what he should do if they come after him and Rachel in the hallway. Tell Rachel to run and try to fight the whole football team himself?

"God knows Finn wouldn't have stopped me," Rachel says suddenly. Sam looks back to the petite brunette staring moodily at the choir door. It opens and Shue pushes the guys out and down the hallway in the opposite direction of him and Rachel. Sam's relieved, he seriously doubts he'd be able to take on all the football guys by himself and live to tell the tale.

"I mean honestly," Rachel continues, "A real leader would stand up to them. A real leader would have stopped this nonsense a long time ago. But Finn's too scared to do anything," her voice grows softer, "Too afraid to…"

She trails off, but before Sam can ask what she was going to say, Rachel stands up. "Come on, we'd better get back to the choir room."

Sam follows her back. It's true what she said, even if she didn't finish. Finn's not a real leader. Finn should want to protect his club; he should have been the one grabbing onto Rachel to make sure Karofsky didn't hurt her. Glee club needs a real leader, someone who will protect everyone, including Rachel.

Particularly Rachel.

Sam swallows.

Maybe he does know why he did it.

* * *

A/N- Okay, somehow Politics . and . Prose manages to publish all my stories before me, but when I saw it was Sam holding back Rachel, I couldn't help myself. Besides, they're pretty different stories. I also wanted to give Sam a reason for challenging Finn's leadership.

BTW, I'm totally convinced Sam and Rachel are gonna actually have some romance on the show and I am a-okay with it. Especially since Finn is being an idiot. SRSLY Finn don't get back with Quinn =[

God, I'm way too emotionally invested in this show

Please review!


	2. it feels so right

"I made this for you."

The cupcake is chocolate with bright red frosting and tiny white sprinkles. Sam's mouth waters just looking at it, specialized diet be damned.

Rachel's holding it out, cupping it both hands awkwardly, and smiling, almost unsure. She looks surprisingly…nervous.

Sam sticks out his hand and Rachel gently puts down the cupcake in his palm.

"Did you seriously just bake one cupcake for me?" The question pops out of Sam's mouth before he can stop it. Rachel flushes almost as red as the cupcake.

"No I actually made them for my fathers as a Valentine's gift, but I remembered how I never really thanked you for saving me from partaking in the violence that erupted in the choir room after Puck's and my duet. And in my experience, apologies that come with baked goods are accepted one hundred percent more of the time than apologies that don't," Rachel takes a breath to continue, but Sam cuts her off.

"You don't have to apologize."

Rachel shrugs, "Well I wanted to properly thank you," for a moment, a fearful look crosses her face, "But if you don't want it, it's fine. I can-"

Sam quickly takes a bite of the cupcake to stop her worries.

"It's good!" he exclaims through the mouthful.

Sam's not lying. The cupcake is crazy delicious, especially to someone who can't remember the last time he ate a sweet. Not that Sam's a health-nut or anything, he just sticks to his regimen because he's an athlete and it gives him a rockin' body. No one ever questions why he doesn't eat sweets or try to offer him some anyway. Most people marvel over his amazing self-control. Quinn loves his self-control.

The thought of how his girlfriend might react to seeing him eat a cupcake so eagerly, especially one made by Rachel Berry, makes Sam take another large bite. Did she think he was missing those puppy dog eyes she was giving Finn? The lovelorn gazes? Because he wasn't.

Sam takes another angry bite before finishing his last, resulting in choking on the cupcake. Rachel jumps back to avoid flying chunks of chocolate.

"Are you all right Sam?" she asks cautiously.

Sam coughs a few times to clear his airway. "I think so," he wheezed, "Ate a little too much, too fast."

Rachel still looks hesitant, but she nods. "Well thank you," she says.

Sam shrugs and debates whether or not to take another bite. The thought of Quinn and Finn makes him go for it. Why do they have to look so perfect together? He and Quinn may both be blond, but Finn's name rhymes with hers!

"Somebody had to stop you from going all tsamsiyu on his ass," he says through his mouthful of food.

"Going all what?" Rachel looks confused and it's Sam's turn to blush. Quinn keeps telling him to stop making stupid Avatar references and speaking the language, but it still pops out sometimes when he's not paying attention.

Sam swallows the mass of cupcake in his mouth. "Er, tsamsiyu. It means warrior in Na'vi," Rachel still looks puzzled, "The language from the movie Avatar."

"Oh," Rachel's eyes widen, "I never saw it. Finn was supposed to bring it over during winter break but…" Rachel trails off not unlike the last time she started talking about Finn to Sam.

Sam has to hand it to the guy; he certainly knows how to get girls hooked on him. He wonders how Rachel's taking the news that Finn will be running a kissing booth.

That thought reminds Sam of Quinn and Finn and almost kisses, and Sam's anger returns. His grip on the cupcake tightens and frosting covers his hand.

"Sam…?" Rachel's voice brings Sam back to the hallway and he glances down at the now squished cupcake in his hand.

"Whoops," he says weakly.

Rachel bites her lower lip. "It's all right. I'd better go. I'll see you in glee," she offers looking ready to walk away.

"Wait," Before he knows what he's doing, Sam starts to talk, "Not having seen Avatar, that's like a crime. I have the 3-D version at my house if you want to come over sometime and watch it," he looks down at the remains of the thank-you cupcake in his hand, "Maybe you could bring another cupcake that I won't ruin." He looks up and smiles at her.

To say Rachel looks surprised is an understatement, her jaw has literally dropped, but she gathers herself quickly and nods. "Sure, that sounds like fun."

"Okay," they stand in silence for a second, before Sam realizes just how awkward this is. "Text me when you're free."

Rachel nods and glances at her watch. "I'm going to be late for English," she tells him, "I'll, I'll text you."

She gives him a little wave and scurries off. Sam's mind is going a mile a minute as he goes over to the nearest trashcan and wipes the squashed cupcake off his hand. Thoughts of Quinn, Finn, kisses, and Avatar race through his head. But one thought grabs Sam and clears his mind.

Who wears a watch anymore?

Rachel Berry, that's who.

* * *

A/N- This is, by no means, a guarantee for more

...all your nice comments just inspired me is all


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